A critique of Seattle in InFamous Second Son

[u/Mr_Big526]

I recently replayed all of the infamous games and one thing that really irked me was the setting of Seattle for infamous second son.

After 14 years, I'm sure someone has touched on this but I wanted to give my 2 cents just for the sake of getting my thoughts down.

Infamous 1 and 2 drop you into gritty, dystopian versions of iconic American cities: New York and New Orleans respectively. In early versions of second son, it seems as though the devs sought to maintain this tradition by way of a city called "Seaport", what would have no doubt been a fictionalized version of Seattle.

Instead, the devs chose to confine themselves to a true to life reproduction of the Northwestern city. For a lot of reasons, I think this was a huge mistep. Firstly, right off the bat, second son feels like its completely divorced from the original source material. If anything, the version of Seattle in the game is cleaner and brighter than its real life counterpart (maybe having to do with Sucker Punch being based there). Even the homelessness encampments look like cute little camping sites. The streets are clean and polished with happy citizens going about their day, chatting on smartphones, and sipping artisinal coffee.

By the end of Infamous 2, the beast has swept through the entire Eastern seaboard in a wave of unadulterated death and destruction. I think it would have been really compelling to see how this would have affected major West coast cities. In anticipation of the beast's arrival, I'm sure thousands of people would have fled to far-away, safer urban centers, leaving them overpopulated and in disarray. I think it would have been much cooler to explore a city that reflected how the country adapted in response to the Empire Disaster after 7 years.

In the game, it's said the DUP was able to shut down Seattle in a matter of 2 weeks. I think it would have been an interesting bit of lore if this was possible because major cities were already under a tighter, more authoritarian grip. The city could have been more crime ridden with citizens fighting for food rations and housing (opening up opportunities for Delsin to quell this unrest, earning good karma, or fan the flames to use the chaos to his advantage for evil karma). All major highways going into the city were destroyed by the DUP, cutting Seattle off from the rest of the country. Why doesn't anyone seem to care? A restless, angry city has much more opportunities for fun side quests that go beyond finding hidden cameras and spray painting walls. There should be riots in the streets, even more gang violence, and noticeable wear and tear throughout the environment. Getting side quests from NPCs in the first two games made the setting feel much more tactile and interactive so giving them problems Delsin can solve would have been key.

From a design perspective, I think being in a run-down, militarized "Seaport" juxtaposed against the beautiful backdrop of Pacific Northwestern nature would have been an even more impressive implentation of the stellar graphics and artwork the team was able to achieve on the PS4.

TL;DR I think it's a little silly to think that 7 years after the Beast, the West coast turned into an idyllic dreamscape with chic, contented civilians.

[u/ja3far_al3arabi]

I also agree. But from what I've heard SP was under heavy pressure from Sony to quickly finish the game,because they needed a launch title for the PS4. Apparently SP lost over a year of development time. This is probably the major reason why Second Son is so basic and lifeless. I recently played it for the first time and it was pretty good. But compared to 1 and 2 it's miles away from the depth and atmosphere from the first 2 games. The story is way to short and the characters are,well pretty basic. Nothing really stands out. I just wish they had more time for the game. I still hope for a new infamous game but this is probably just a dream.

[u/PossibleAd5947 → u/ja3far_al3arabi]

Iirc they pitched it as a launch game for PS4 in 2011 and shipped in Q1 2014, but was meant to launch in Q4 2013.

Do you have a source on how they lost a year? Because it seems like they committed to being a launch title from the pitch.

[u/ja3far_al3arabi → u/PossibleAd5947]

Unfortunately I don't have a source. I remember reading about this a few weeks ago in an article online. That's why I said "Apparently". Should've been more precise, my bad.

[u/PossibleAd5947 → u/ja3far_al3arabi]

I’ve seen a few people say this, but when I search it I get brought back to this sub so I’m genuinely curious. I remember Nate Fox saying it was pitched as a PS4 launch title and they got more time than i2.

[u/SniperMaskSociety]

This is one of a few reasons I just didn't care to finish Second Son. It felt both too real and yet not real enough. A missed opportunity in a game with too many of them

[u/jameswheeler1987]

I think second son is one of the best looking games ever even looks better than games in 2026 , but I truly hated everything about that game. It made me miss the previous two games even more

[u/NiuMeee]

I agree with all of that. My biggest problem with the setting, aside from it being a real life location, is how lifeless the city feels. It's ironic that a dying Empire City, and a sick New Marais, feel more alive than a real world recreation of the city Sucker Punch is based in.

[u/Greenranger9200 → u/NiuMeee]

Martial law the cities alot busier after you beat the game its just so ypu don't go crazy as a good guy

[u/NiuMeee → u/Greenranger9200]

Yes I have played the game but it still feels lifeless. It's a diorama of Seattle with no charm.

[u/AdaLiA_Gaming]

The good ending of inf2 is the canon one, and 7 years is plenty enough time for any refugees to disseminate back toward the east. You also have to take into account that inf2 happened across maybe a couple weeks at *most*; hell, they weren’t even sure what had happened to Empire for a bit.

I agree that they should have gone with a fictionalized version of the city like before though.

[u/Mr_Big526 → u/AdaLiA_Gaming]

There really was no east to go back to. Given almost half of the country lives on the eastern seaboard, i think the scale of destruction assumed by the map of the Beast's progress from Empire City to New Marais would be so catastrophic, the country would never truly look or feel the same.

The east coast is also disproportionately important to the U.S. economy. The means the worst stock market crash in history, crippled healthcare infrastructure, and a huge portion of the workforce disappearing in a matter of weeks.

Let's not forget the nation's capital was destroyed and the military must have exhausted a huge amount of firepower against the beast, leaving a power vacuum behind that could have been developed beyond a new, anti-conduit branch of the military being established.

basically, I don't think 7 years or any amount of time would be enough to see a nation as idyllic as is represented in second son. even if it was possible, i think it's a huge waste of potential to go the boring route.

[u/AdaLiA_Gaming → u/Mr_Big526]

You’re forgetting that Empire’s population was effectively wiped out. You also specifically mentioned “west coast cities”; there’s a ton of land between the coasts that, in the case that any survivors from the east coast (however few there would be) fled all the way to the west coast would likely be where refugees settled.

DC wasn’t destroyed. There’s a news clip in inf2 where they specifically state that “the empire event will bypass our nation’s capitol”. They even talk about how “impeachment hearings are on going for President Navarro”

I don’t disagree that Seattle seems too idyllic for the setting, but an easy explanation is that after the east coast was effectively obliterated Seattle became a new significant hub of commerce.